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Zinc-finger PARP proteins ADP-ribosylate alphaviral proteins and are required for interferon-γ–mediated antiviral immunity

Andrew P. Ryan, Sofia E. Delgado-Rodriguez, Matthew D. Daugherty

2025Science Advances16 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF

Abstract

Viral manipulation of posttranslational modifications (PTMs) is critical to enable control over host defenses. Evidence suggests that one such PTM, adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP)-ribosylation, is important for viral replication, but the host and viral components involved are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that several human poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) proteins, including the zinc-finger domain containing PARP7 (TiPARP) and PARP12, directly ADP-ribosylate the alphaviral nonstructural proteins (nsPs), nsP3 and nsP4. These same human PARP proteins inhibit alphavirus replication in a manner that can be antagonized by the ADP-ribosylhydrolase activity of the virally encoded macrodomain. Last, we find that knockdown of any of the three CCCH zinc-finger domain containing PARPs, PARP7, PARP12, or the enzymatically inactive PARP13 (ZAP/ZC3HAV1), attenuates the antiviral effects of interferon-γ on alphavirus replication. Combined with evolutionary analyses, these data suggest that zinc-finger PARPs share an ancestral antiviral function that can be antagonized by the activity of viral macrodomains, indicative of an ongoing evolutionary conflict between host ADP-ribosylation and viruses.

Topics & Concepts

Zinc fingerBiologyAlphavirusViral replicationPoly ADP ribose polymeraseInterferonCell biologyPolymeraseVirologyGeneticsVirusGeneTranscription factorPARP inhibition in cancer therapyViral Infections and Immunology ResearchPlant Virus Research Studies